The Champion
by Cyberdrew
Summary: Eight Heroes. One Tournament. One mad god pulling the strings. Join the multitude of young heroes in their struggle to survive.
1. Chapter 1

The flash of lightning struck them all at once; two minutes past twelve, and not a second later. The young men and women, now disoriented and sick, found themselves in a new world.

As they collectively sputtered and hacked, like they've almost drowned, some started to notice their surroundings.

A pristine, white room, with sealed doors and a single raised section of the floor to create a stand at the center of a room. A young man stood on the stand dressed in a black suit, though he was missing the white shirt that one would wear under it, exposing his chest. His short, yet messy hair combined with his five o'clock shadow made him look like a model. His sly smile told that he knew a secret you didn't. He greeted the newcomers with open arms.

"Welcome!" He said, "Heroes and Heroines, one and all!"

The visitors were standing up now, becoming more aware of their surroundings. Some reached for their missing weapons.

"Please," he insisted, "there is no harm to come to any of you. I am only known as the Champion, and I have hosted the greatest games and tournaments in the history of the Multiverse! And now I have called eight of you here, for a once in a lifetime event. A Tournament of Heroes!"

A young boy stepped forward, voicing the general consensus.

"And if we say no?" He challenged.

"Pardon?"

"What if we say no?" He repeated.

"There...is no 'if,'" he answered, "if you do not wish to participate, you will be sent home. Safe and sound. This is a sport, not an invasion, young hero. Although, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. A chance to gain the title as the first of many winning champion for generations to come! It is, although, your choice..."

The visitors looked around and muttered a few words. They all seemed fine with it.

"Very well," the Champion announced, "I shall give you all proper introductions!

"Percy Jackson: Demigod son of Poseidon and Defender of Olympus!

"Maximum Ride: Genetic Angel, Survivor, and Natural Leader of her own Flock!

"Harry Potter: the Boy Who Lived, the Chosen Wizard, and the Tricup Tournament Victor!

"Katniss Everdeen: The Girl on Fire, the Mockingjay, the Victor of Two Hunger Games and a Rebellion!

"Aleksander Ferdinand: Former Prince of Austria and heir to the Emperor's Throne, Hero of the Bio-ship Leviathan, and Expert Pilot!

"Carter Kane: Combat Magician, Host of Horus, and One-day Pharaoh of the House of Life!

"Sadie Kane: Diviner Magician, Host of Iris, and Holder of Secret Names!

"Ender Wiggin: King of Games, Master of Military Strategy, and Destroyer of Alien Menaces!"

He sighed, like he was an anxious child waiting for the big event to happen.

"I will allow you all a moment's preparation for the tournament," he waved his hand, "Until next time!"

Then he was gone in a flash of lightening.

**_Please Read and_****Review**


	2. Chapter 2

As soon as the Champion left, Percy Jackson looked around and immediately saw a familiar face.

"Carter!" He greeted excitedly, happy to see someone he knew.

"Hey Percy!" He waved back, "I thought this was a tournament of heroes, what are you doing here?"

"That's funny," he replied, "Come up with that all by yourself?"

The grasped each other's hands in a greeting, and he noticed the girl behind him observing him.

"You're Percy?" The girl, Sadie wondered, "Your Annabeth's boyfriend?"

Percy blinked, and furrowed his brow. "You've met Annabeth? When? How?"

Carter looked as confused as he did, clearly not knowing the connection between this Annabeth person.

"Long story, but ohmygods!" She said, "This is just crazy right? I mean, bugger all explanation that was! A tournament of heroes? I don't remember signing up for this."

"Well, he said we could go home anytime we wanted to," Carter argued.

"He said this was for fun anyway," Percy added, "I wouldn't mind being a champion of heroes. Sounds awesome!"

"Yeah, but," Sadie wondered, "Look at all these kids. That bloke mentioned the _multiverse_. Do you really think that this is all some game being set up here?"

Percy shrugged. "Clearly you've never met any of the gods I know. They send me and my friends on their errands all the time. It's ridiculous."

"Yeah Sadie," Carter agreed, "It's like Thoth or Neith getting picky. It could be harmless."

Sadie huffed in disgust.

"Boys," she muttered as she walked off, "Always an ego to stroke."

The boys shrugged and went on with their own conversation, catching up on old times.

Well, less "catching up" admittedly and more gossiping about what the big prize was going to be.

A few minutes later, the Champions booming voice echoed through the room.

"Times up!" He announced, "Round one begins...

_Now_."

A flash of lightning enveloped Percy, zapping him to a new room. This one was dark all around, aside from the single light above him that lit up a large area around him. There was a grate in the floor that ran around him in a ring. Across from him was another young boy with dark hair and green eyes. Except he was dressed in formal wear, like royalty, though Percy couldn't even guess where.

Oh right, he remembered, this must be that Alek kid. Didn't the Champion say he was a prince or a pilot or something?

That wasn't the bad news though. The bad news was what he was standing on. Under his boots stood a mechanized monster on two legs, with three separate guns on its sides and head. The thing looked like it was taken out of a steampunk Star Wars battle.

And it was facing Percy with its guns ready.

"Brawl!" The Champion announced. "Percy Jackson versus Aleksander Ferdinand! Defeat your opponent!"

"Fight!"

As soon as he said the word, Alek hopped in into the hatch of his mech and started it up.

Percy pulled out his ballpoint pen and uncapped it, revealing the magic celestial bronze sword; Riptide.

He muttered a curse under his breath. "What am I supposed to do with this?" He wondered.

The first thing he was going to do when he got back home was talk to the Hephaestus cabin into making him a celestial bronze mech-suit.

The walker stormed him, forcing him to roll out of the way of its war path. The guns went off, spraying the ground with fat bullets. The main gun, the tank head or whatever it's called, swerved around to face him, and fired.

The explosion rocked his world. It didn't hit him, but it was close enough to make him half deaf and send him sprawling through the air.

He landed with his face in the grate ring. That's when he heard it, the key to his salvation.

Water. Under the grates. Running water.

"Are you all right?" The speaker in the walker blared. "That was meant to be a warning shot. You can surrender if you'd like."

Percy summoned the water to run up his arms and heal his burns. Some water even splashed in his ear to return his hearing. Percy stood back up and faced the Prince.

"Surrender this!" He grunted, raising his arms and swiping them across the air.

In response, water roared up through the grates and assaulted the walker's legs. The walker stumbled, though it seemed to somehow catch itself from falling. It stood firm as the water rushed past its legs.

Percy raised his arms again, focusing on creating a storm. Soon enough, a hurricane gathered around the walker, pelting the chassis with water. Then, when Percy was fully convinced it was thoroughly soaked, he pulled his arms back, and the water yanked out from within the walker, causing it to fall forward.

It slammed against the ground with a violent crash, and for a moment Percy wondered if he'd gone too far.

Then, to dispel his worries, the hatch popped open and the boy climbed out.

"Not one of mine anyways," he huffed out, in a German accent, "Sorry about the gunfire, it kind of did that on its own. It usually takes a full team to operate one of those."

He stood up and dusted himself off.

"How about we finish the fight as Swordsmen, ya?" He drew out his rapier, and took a stance at Percy.

"Uh, sure," Percy readied his sword with two hands, "Whatever you say Hans."

"Alek."

"Right."

Alek lunged towards him, almost stabbing Percy square in the chest if he had not waved Riptide to block it. Percy swung his sword in retaliation, and Alek did perhaps the strangest thing Percy has ever seen.

He leaned back.

Just enough for the sword to miss, and he straightened back up again. Percy blinked. Monsters and demigods have a tendency to block attacks, or just take the hit and heal their wounds with their magic. Demigods dodge of course, but not like this.

Percy swung his sword again, and again, and each time, Alek just bobbed and weaved, occasionally hopping back a step. Finally, Percy got the idea to disarm him, like he'd been taught at his first year in camp.

Their swords clashed, and Percy slapped the flat of his blade against his, forcing him to let go. The rapier clanged against the floor and Alek was left defenseless.

Percy held his sword to him in victory.

"I surrender," Alek said joyfully, "That was rather fun. Much better than practicing with Count Volger."

Percy didn't lower his sword away from him.

"Uh, alright," Alek said, "You win, Mr. uh... Jackson, was it? You can lower the blade now."

He didn't move.

"I'm sorry," he added, "about the guns. I didn't know they would fire on their own like that. Now could you please lower your blade?"

Percy let out a deep breath and recapped Riptide.

"I'm sorry," he finally said, "I don't know what came over me just then. I just felt like..."

"You had to win?" Alek guessed, "at any cost?"

"Yeah. I'm not usually this intense, I swear."

"It's forgiven, I'm just glad Deryn wasn't here to see this. She would have never let forget-"

"VICTOR!" The Champion's voice boomed around them, "Percy Jackson!"

Suddenly, lightning struck Alek and made him disappear right before his eyes. And Percy became a little more worried about what he's gotten himself into.


	3. Chapter 3

Harry hated that word.

Tournament.

Just a month after Sedrick Digery died, and Harry is being thrusted into another game by another's hand.

Still, he wanted to win. He wasn't even sure why, but he wanted to get that prize. It could be anything.

It could even be a wish.

He could wish for his parents to be alive. Or, better yet, that they never died to begin with. He could grow up normally like any other kid. He'd still find Ron and Hermoine again, he knew it.

He was startled back to reality when a hand touched his shoulder. He spun around to find a younger girl with strands of hair dyed in different colors. She wore combat boots, like she was ready to march into a war. Over her shoulder was a satchel that...well, that set Harry off. Whatever was in those pouches, he didn't like them.

"Oi!" The girl snapped her fingers in front of him, "My eyes are up here, boy."

"Sorry," Harry's faced burned because of the comment. "I wasn't-"

"I know, I know," the girl said, "I was just messing with ya."

She held out her hand. "I'm Sadie Kane."

"Harry Potter." He shook her hand.

"Oh, you're from England too? How haven't we met yet?"

"Well, we could be from other worlds, like that man said."

"Oh, right, that might explain it," she soon explained, "you see, other than my brother and his friend over there, you're the only other one here who has it."

"Has what?"

Sadie leaned in and whispered, "Magic. Are you a magician?"

Harry blinked and looked at her strangely. He wasn't sure how to respond.

"It's okay!" Sadie insisted, "Look."

She pulled out a small stick and he watched as it grew to full size. There was lion's head carved on top of the wooden stick. In Sadie's other hand, she held another stick that was bent into a "V" shape.

"Is that...ivory?" Harry guessed.

"It works well with our magic," she said, "what about you?"

"Well, uh," he fished out his wand from his pocket unceremoniously, "I've a wand here..."

"Oh," Sadie said, no doubt trying to think of something nice to say.

"I'm told it's how you use it that counts," Harry said.

That made her laugh, hard. Soon they were chit-chatting away about their homes and families. Harry was surprised to learn how much he had in common with Sadie. Even if she had the option of seeing her parents every now and then, they were still dead. And yet, he still found himself envying her. She had an Uncle who cared for her, and a brother who protects her.

"You're lucky to have someone like that," Harry said, "I always wanted a brother."

"I know," Sadie said guiltily, "I don't know what I'd do without Carter. But if you ever tell him I said that, I'll hunt you down."

Harry put his hands up in defense, laughing, but the joyous moment was cut short.

"Time's up! Round 1 begins...

_Now_."

A flash of lightning struck the both of them. And Harry found himself on a platform very high in the air.

In involuntarily got down on his hands and knees, trying to keep himself from getting dizzy. Where was he?

He looked around. There was only light on the tower he was on. At least, it felt like a tower.

He looked over and saw someone else on a separate tower.

That's... That's Sadie's brother. Carter? Right?

"Are you alright?" He called out, causing him to look up at him.

He didn't answer, but Harry slowly got up on his two feet.

_It's okay_, he told himself, _you've been up higher than this before. You're a seeker, remember_?

The Champion's voice boomed around them again, "Duel! First one to knock their opponent out of their circle, wins!

FIGHT!"

Harry readied his wand, but faltered.

"Wait!" He said, "I need to know something!"

The host did not answer.

"Will we be hurt?" he rambled, "Is anyone going to be hurt?"

The voice answered this time.

"I interfere only when mortal wounds are present," he said, "you will not sustain any damage if I have anything to say about it!"

Harry refocused on Carter.

Well, he did say this was for fun...

"_Stupify_!"

Carter, who had climbed back up on his two feet, effectively ducked the assault.

"Oh, so that's how it is?" He smirked.

His hand disappeared behind his back as he grabbed for something. He produced a curved sword and what appeared to be a boomerang.

"Nice wand," Carter commented, "but I like mine better!"

He waved it in front of him and some glowing symbols glowed in the air.

"_A'max_!"

A fireball shot past Harry narrowly missing him. He almost fell off.

Harry took another look at their "dire" situation. The platform they were given was only ten feet across. Not a whole lot of room to move out of the way or dodge a spell.

If Harry was going to win this, he needed to do it quickly.

"_Expecto_ _Patronum_!"

"_Ha-wi_!"

"_Confringo_!"

Carter aimed lower. "_Ha_-_di_!"

The spell hit the tower with an explosion and caused it to crumble. Harry was about to lose his footing, he needed to act fast.

"_Expelliarmus_!" He casts.

It hits, knocking the boomerang wand out of Carter's hand and sending it flying. Of course, due to lack of footing, Harry almost fell off the side of the platform. He caught himself on the edge and struggled to pull himself back up.

Cart held up his his arm out towards him, his hand in a closed fist.

"It was a good duel!" He said. Then he cast the spell: "_Khefa_!"

A golden fist appeared from thin air, and slammed into the crumbling tower. Harry finally slipped and fell. He fell ten feet away before the lightning flash struck him and made him disappear.

"VICTOR!" Harry heard the announcer boom, "CARTER KANE!"

Harry isn't sure what happened after that. He knew he was somewhere, and that there was someone else with him, but...

The jewel. He somehow knew, he was inside the jewel, unable to move, unable to yell or scream or cry for help.

Harry Potter is now a prisoner.


	4. Chapter 4

As soon as the mystery man disappeared, Max's brain went on overdrive. She scanned the area for familiar faces, friend or foe, and for exits. The Champion just announced to the world what she really was, so now she needed to escape.

There was none. No doors, as far as she could see, and no familiar faces. Which is partially good, because most of the people Max knew either wanted her dead, or in a cage, or both.

The walls of the room rose into a dome shaped structure, with windows around the center of the roof so you could see the stars. That presented another problem. Max couldn't see any constellations. All the stars in the universe, but no constellations. Max was good at picking them out in the sky, spending time in the middle of nowhere where none of the city lights could block them out. But none of them looked familiar. No Orion, no Gemini, no nothing.

Which left her in the middle of God knows where with seven strange kids that seemed to be stranger than she is.

She sighed. She didn't have a whole lot of time before that nutjob came back, so she needed an ally of some sort.

She looked around to see everyone finding a brand new friend except her. Then she saw the other girl, the one sitting down with her legs hugged to her chest. Max couldn't see her face due to the hood over her head. She just seemed...disturbed in a word.

Max approached her cautiously.

"Mind if I sit here?" She said aloud.

The girl didn't answer, but Max sat down in front of her anyways.

"I didn't quite catch your name," she tried again. "My name's Maximum Ride. What's yours?"

The girl looked up only slightly and muttered something.

"What's that?" Max leaned forward a little. "Catnip?"

The girl's eyes flared and she threw her hood back.

"Katniss. Everdeen." She said clearly with venom, "and I am not interested in making friends right now."

Max was taken aback. It was like talking to Angel all over again.

"Well, we don't have to be friends," Max kept pushing forward, "but we could be allies. Partners, or something."

Katniss examined her, looking for something.

"So, considering what the guy up there said is true," Max continued, "That there's this whole _multiverse_ thing. That means there's limitless possibilities out there. So my question is this: what is the Hunger Games?"

Katniss gave her a faraway look, like she was walking down memory lane. Max felt a little familiar with that look.

"The Hunger Games..." She finally answered, "is a tournament for children to compete in. Every year, the Capitol forces one boy and one girl from each district to fight and die in an arena, until there is only one left standing."

She continued to explain her past, and Max found it both cruel and funny how similar they were in their experience. They both even fought against genetically engineered werewolves. You couldn't make that up!

"Believe it or not," Max finally said, "I think we're more alike than you realize."

She unfurled her wings, spreading them out enough for Katniss to see. She didn't even seem remotely surprised.

She curled in her ball a little tighter. "People are so cruel..." She muttered.

"Yeah. People suck," Max says.

The announcer's voice boomed throughout the room.

"Time's up!" He said, "Round 1 begins...

Now."

A flash of lightning struck the both of them. And Max found herself facing another girl. She instantly reminded her of Nudge. Not in looks but in style. She could totally see Nudge wanting to dye strands of her hair in different colors, and rocking the combat boots.

Max looked around her and saw a line of lights going on for miles. Along the way were little black boxes with little red lights, ready to switch to green. At the very end of the trail, Max could just make out a finish line of some sort.

The announcer boomed in her ears, once again ticking her off.

"Race to the Finish!" He explained, effectively destroying Max's ability to hear, "Maximum Ride versus Sadie Kane!"

"A race?" The girl, Sadie, questioned, "Are you serious?"

"Serious enough," Max answered.

Then she whipped out her wings, and said "You just lost."

She began her running start, but was stopped short. Sadie threw her staff into Max's path, and it changed, mid-air, from a wooden staff to hungry lioness.

With teeth.

And claws.

Teeth and claws that could eat Max like she was a side of chicken wings.

And she would have been two, if she reacted a second later. She clapped her wings front of her, hard enough to push her back away from the giant lunging cat.

Sadie zoomed past her, having sprouted a set of rainbow colored wings herself. She waved at Max.

"Sorry about the trick, love," she said, "It won't kill you. Promise!"

Then she sped up towards the next checkpoint, leaving Max with her house cat.

Max didn't have a whole lot of time to over think this. The lioness was quick, and was too close to try and slip past. So, Max went with her usual tactic.

Punch it until it stops moving.

She dash forward, using her wings for that extra _ompf. _

The lioness lunged at her.

Timing it perfectly, Max swung her leg around with every bit of strength she could muster and knocked the lion sideways; hitting it in her jaw.

The lion growled, but something snapped, and when Max refocused on it, it had dissapeared. Instead of a lion, there was a wooden staff with its head snapped off like someone had used it as a golf club.

Okay, the she-lion is now a stick. That's not insane.

At all.

Max refocused on Sadie. She had gotten a head start, but Max could catch up easily.

As long as she kicks it into overdrive.

She spread out her wings as far as they would go, and rushed forward, her sneakers barely brushing the ground as she flew into ludicrous speeds.

_Here comes Supergirl_, Max thought giddily.

She was ten feet away before Sadie turned around and pulled another dirty trick.

"_Se-kebeb_!"

Suddenly, a blast of cold covered Max and froze her in her tracks.

"Sorry, Angel-face."

She flew off, crossing the halfway point to the finish line. Max could still somehow see what was happening around her. She always wondered how that worked in movies and cartoons. It never seemed very plausible at the time.

Now she struggled to move. She could barely move in this iced shell.

Wait, she could move. Granted not by much; and now she was starting to lose feeling in her extremities.

She tried to force herself into a ball. Trying to crack the ice at the joints.

It is not an easy or fast process, but it's the only option she has.

Soon, she felt some crack under the pressure. Then more cracks reached her ears. The ice soon shattered, allowing her to move and shake off the breaking pieces.

"Th-th-th-That's it! T-t-tomb Raider! Play time's over!"

She wasted no time, using her wings to fling herself forward like a slingshot. She hit her super speed almost immediately; rocketing forward and almost creating a sonic boom.

Max rushed up behind Sadie in a blink, who was twenty feet away from the finish line and closing in.

Max could only hear her say, "Bloody-" before she zoomed past her. Max swung her legs to the ground, skidding across the finish line and effectively ruining her shoes forever.

She sat on her knees and threw her fists up in the air.

"Victory!" She screamed, "I still win! Woo-hoo!"

Then she breathed into her hands and violently rubbed her arms and shoulders in a desperate attempt to get warm.

"Oo-Cold. Oo-Cold. Still cold."

Sadie caught up, huffing and puffing to catch her breath.

"Woo, alright mate, alright, ha..." she heaved, "I'm, uh, I'm sorry about the deep freeze back there. It was...ha...an impulse. Kinda."

Max glared at her, but the longer she looked at her the harder it was to stay mad. She looked honestly confused about the situation. She honestly didn't know why she did that.

"Well," Max replied, "I still got my ten lil' piggies on my foot. And I can still count to five on each hand, so I guess we're square."

Sadie held out her hand, and before Max could shake it, the announcer was back.

"VICTOR! Maximum Ride!"

Then a flash of lightning struck Sadie, causing her to disappear.

Figures, Max thinks to herself, every time she even thinks about making a friend outside of the flock, some weird cosmic joke gets pulled and everything goes down the crapper.


	5. Chapter 5

"Willow? Rye?" The young woman called, "It's getting late! It's time to come back home!"

There was no answer from the forest. Katniss stood at the edge of it, calling the names of the two children.

It was getting dark out, Katniss started to worry, and old memories started to crawl their way back to the forefront of her mind. There had been lightning strikes the area this morning, but there hasn't been a drop of rain.

"Stop worrying," she told herself, "They're just playing. It's not Snow, or Coin. They just lost track of time, that's all."

"If only it were that simple."

Katniss spun around to see the tall, imposing figure that seemed to have spawned from nowhere.

The man looked at her like she was nothing. Like a bug that wasn't worth his time to step on.

"They are gone," the Champion informed, "they are gone from this earth of yours. And if you are to ever see them again, you will do exactly as I say."

The flash of lightning landed her in an unmistakable setting: an arena.

_+Soon...+_

There were high walls around her and a field of lower walls in front of her. Potential cover for a shootout of some kind.

Across the field was a little boy in a uniform of some kind. He must have been a little older than Rye. The sight of him broke Katniss's heart.

"Deadshot!" The Champion announced, "Katniss Everdeen vs Ender Wiggin! First one to get hit loses! Start in three... Two..."

Before Katniss could realize what was happening, the little boy, Ender, dove behind a wall to hide. Katniss followed his lead, diving for cover.

"One... Fight!"

Katniss's mind sharpened in focus. She notched an arrow and slowed her breathing, ready to step out and strike.

But she didn't move. This was too close. Too close to the games. Too natural for her. She couldn't do this. Not now or ever again.

She threw her bow down in front of her and cried. Her fingers clutched to the sides of her head as she tried to mentally wake up from this supposed nightmare.

It wasn't a nightmare, or hallucination, she knew. She was being kept here, in an arena, by all means a _god_ and there was nothing she could do about it except accept her fate. She wasn't meant to survive this.

A few minutes passed, and then the little boy, Ender, poked his head from around a wall and spotted her. Instead of shooting her, the boy examined her, perplexed at the easy target.

"Are you... Alright?" Ender asked her.

Katniss just buried her head into her knees, crying her eyes out.

Ender sat down next to her, setting aside the strange glowing gun he had with him.

"Hey," he said to her, "I'm emotionally traumatized too. You don't have to participate in this if you don't want too."

"How can you be so calm?" Katniss found her voice, "An alien god abducts you, and forces to fight the other abductees, and you're okay with that?"

"I..." Ender looked confused, "I thought I was, but... The more I think about it, the more this whole thing seems wrong. Why didn't I say anything?"

He looked at her, examining her in a new way.

"Why aren't _you_ affected by any of this?" He asked, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because my family-" she choked back a sob, "my _children_ are-"

"About to suffer more than you can imagine," said the Champion.

Katniss and Ender whipped their heads around to him. They grabbed their weapons and stood ready.

"Good, you have your weapons," he said, "I'd get busy before I lose interest. Those children of yours, Mrs. Everdeen, are such delicate little flowers. It'd be a shame if anything happened to them the same way it happened to Rue, or Beatrice, or Prim..."

"Wait," Ender held up his hand, "Why are you doing this? I thought this was another game!"

"It is a game, child," the Champion answered, "It's a cosmic game."

"I'm not a killer anymore!" Katniss found her ground, "Just kill me and get it over with!"

"Kill you?" The Champion threw his head back and his laughter caused the floors and walls to shake. "I would never _dream_ of killing you heroes. You're all so important to your worlds in a way that you have no mortal knowledge of. No, killing you would be a waste. However, you do have your uses..."

He gestured to the boy. "Go on then," he said to him, "Disqualify her. She is here, and no longer any use to me. Win the match, already!"

The two just looked at each other.

"No," he answered, "No more games."

"Well then," he said, holding up his hand to snap his fingers. "Say good-bye to Rye."

Before Katniss could do anything, Ender stepped up and said "Wait!"

The Champion froze, waiting to see what he would do.

"I surrender," Ender said, "I forfeit the match. I lose. Katniss is the winner."

The Champion glowered at him.

"Victor," he said, with acid dripping off his words, "Katniss Everdeen."

The ruby dangling from the Champions neck became wreathed in lightning. In a second, it reached out and struck Ender Wiggin, causing him to disappear from sight.

"I have to go declare the other Victors of their respective matches," he told Katniss, "But you better behave, and find that fire in your belly, Mrs. Everdeen. Fight like you've never fought before, and your son and daughter will make it home safely. This is your last warning, and your only option, so if I were you, I'd suggest getting into the spirit of one of your old Games. Now."

He disappeared in a flash of lightning, but Katniss wasn't afraid anymore. She found her inner darkness, and all of the hatred and remorse that came with it.

"This really is just a game," she said quietly, somewhat hoping the Champion would hear her, "and you just tipped your hand."


	6. Chapter 6

Max was shot back to the main room, instantly surrounded by a noticeably smaller crowd.

The Champion stood on the dais, smiling like he had been waiting there the whole time.

"Welcome back, Heroes!" He greeted, "And congratulations! You have survived the first Round!"

"Survived?" The kid in the orange shirt questioned.

"Wait," said another kid, "Where's Sadie?"

He looked accusingly at the buff dude.

"What happened to my sister?!" He demanded. Gosh, he reminded her of Angel and Gazzy.

"Yeah!" Max chimed in, feeling partially responsible that Sadie lost, "What happens to the losers?"

Mr. Buff-n'-Stuff looked hurt.

"Peace, my friends." There was something wrong with his voice. Nothing physically wrong when it reached Max's ears, but the sensation she felt seemed familiar to her. She just couldn't really focus on where or why. "Survived is...merely an expression. Rest assured, the losers of their respective matches have been sent home, safe and sound."

Max looked around to the other three. The two boys didn't look at all reassured, which means there's a brain somewhere between them. And Katniss, the girl who she had been talking to before the match, had changed. She looked fiercer, more focused, her eyes were still red from crying but Max could tell she was beyond that now. She reminded Max of an arrow, sharp, barbed, and drawn back on the bow for the kill shot.

_What happened out there?_ Max wondered. _And how can I look that menacing?_

"Well, if you remain skeptical," the host continued, "Here. I will show you."

He raised his hand to a wall and an arc of lightning it struck from his fingertips.

"A gift to your families and friends on the moment of your arrival," he said, "behold!"

Max "beheld" the sights in the mirror. Instead of a reflection, she saw other people. She saw Sadie's face being crowded in by others. She saw that guy with the glasses, and a few others that she assumed where friends of the contenders. She even saw her Flock, all crowded around the image like it was the only TV available in the house.

"See?" The Champion chided like a no-it-all parent. "No foul-play here. They watch the events of their choosing from their homes."

Katniss had been standing right behind her. She whispered out to the open air, undoubtedly hoping for someone to hear.

"Don't trust him."

Max didn't look back her, or confirm that she even heard. She just tapped her pants leg twice, hoping that was enough to not alert Puff-n'-Buff back there.

Out of the corner of her eye, Max saw the other two boys kinda shuffling in their stance. Had they heard it too?

"Unfortunately," said the Champion, "I'm still working on the communications aspect of the mirrors. Interdimensional travel is no small feat, you know.

"Now that this is all settled, I know how exhausted you all are from today's events. I have prepared rooms for the four of you to rest in for a few hours. Night and day are inconsistent here, however, there should be plenty of time for sleep and food. The guide lights will escort you."

Four little ghost lights appeared next to them and started to float away. Percy and Carter didn't seem at all surprised or concerned, but Max and Katniss made eye contact. Max wondered when the axe murderer would spring up from the floor boards and lop her head clean off.

She followed the light down a hallway until it reached a door against the wall. The door opened by itself and the light flickered out.

Max ignored the absolutely gorgeous room and sat on the bed. All she wanted to do right now was sleep till she was hungry and eat till she was tired again. But Katniss's warning rang in her ears.

She wondered back a few minutes- Geez, minutes?- to win she first arrived. Max knew why she hated the Champion when she first heard him. She recognized the smoothness in his voice.

It was the silky vocal chords of an Eraser, magnified by a thousand megaphones and remixed several times over. Enough to make her doubt herself about being suspicious. Enough to partially doubt Katniss's words the second she heard them.

And as much as she hated to admit it, the two girls couldn't fight him alone. They'd need the help of the Aquaman and Magic Boy.

She yawned and stretched herself on the bed. She'd sneak out and try to talk to one of them after a few winks. She was a light sleeper anyway.


	7. Chapter 7

Carter had no idea what was wrong with him.

All the signs in the world that this place was wrong and he doesn't even blink.

Sure, he wanted to see if Sadie was alright, but that guy's voice seemed to cloud his judgement. It made it hard to concentrate on his own thoughts. He felt like he was going insane.

Then there was a knock at his door. When he opened it, he found the girl with the golden pin.

"Katniss, right?" Carter guessed.

She nodded, not vocally answering but stepping into the room past him.

"Close the door," she whispered, "We need to talk."

Carter obeyed and silently tried to steel his nerves.

"You know this is all wrong," she began, "this tournament."

"Yeah," Carter agreed, "I heard you earlier. I'm...not really sure why I was going along with all of this for so long, but..."

"It doesn't matter," she waved it off decisively, "You know now about it, so now you can better resist it."

"Okay," Carter continued, "so we know we can't go home without his powers. And we know he...I guess _amplifies_ rivalries between people. Fans the flames, so to speak."

Katniss' left eye seemed to twitch, though Carter didn't mention it.

"Yes," Katniss agreed, "It seems that he is intent on making us fight, or compete, with each other. There's no telling what his end game is."

"So what do we do?"

Another small knock. Carter opened it to see two more familiar faces.

"This is where the party's at?" Percy said in such a serious tone that Carter forgot he was joking.

"We have a problem," Max informed as she entered, "The other _heroes_." She put air quotes around _heroes_. "They're not dead. At least, we don't think so."

Suddenly Carter felt very cold as he shut the door behind the two guests. It never occurred to him the possibility that his sister was dead. Would be even have known? Wouldn't be have felt that? Something should have happened...right?

"What do you mean?" Carter almost lost his cool, "You _think_ so?"

"He was, like, basking or something," Percy explained, "Like a totally cliché super villain. He was using their powers on the air, like he was testing them, or something."

Silence befell the four of them. As they tried to process this.

"So," Percy said, "Anybody here a master strategist? Cause I'm more of a 'swing-first-and-ask-questions-later' kind of guy myself."

"Yeah," Carter agreed, "I've noticed."

Percy turned his angry green eyes towards him.

"You're one to talk," he quipped, "Punched me outta my socks..."

"Hey," Max got between them, "Testosterone One and Two, can we calm things down here?"

"Listen," Katniss hushed them. "This is important. How sure are you that they are alive? The other trib...The other competitors?"

Percy and Max made eye contact for a few seconds.

"It's just...like this feeling," Max answered. "Personally, I think all this magic biz is baloney, but..."

"We could see the powers of the people he's using," Percy tried, "Like shadows, or something. It was like they were in the room with us when we were spying on him."

"That's not a creepy thing to say," Max joked, "At all."

"Enough," Katniss insisted.

She took a minute to think, and Carter got the idea she was getting at.

"If they are alive," Katniss drew out, "Then they are prisoners, and potential allies."

"How are we going to free them?" Carter questioned, "What can we do?"

"Nothing, for now," Katniss answered, "We've made too much noise as it is. We need to get back to our rooms before he notices that we're missing and rest up as much as we can."

"And then?" Max questioned.

"We play his game," Katniss explained, "We'll have to catch him off guard. We need to be at each other's throats after the next match. Then, we'll strike."

"The next match?" Percy queried, "Two more of us are going to be dead! Er, vanquished, or something."

"No," Katniss said, "You'll be captured, and it'll be the job of the remaining two to release you with everyone else."

"How do we do that?" Carter hated being the negative one, but he thought it'd be better to deal this problems now, rather than later.

"Well," Max started, "if social media has taught me nothing else, you go for the big, glowing, obnoxiously obvious weak spot first. Then you break their legs and work your way from there."

It took Carter a minute to understand what she was saying.

"You mean...the ruby?" He said, "The one around his neck?"

"Seems kinda..." Percy ventured.

"Blatant," Max agreed, "I know, but do we really have that that many options?"

"Alright," Carter didn't really like just standing around guessing. "We should decide who's going to win. Who's going to take on this...Champion jerk."

"That's a good idea," Max agreed. "I should win."

"Uh, what?" Percy chuckled, "I'm the one with the sword and water powers, remember?"

"Yeah, and you're also a meathead," she argued, "you said so yourself."

"Guys, easy," Carter tried to defuse the situation. "Let's be adults here."

"Why?" Max stubbornly questioned, "Adults suck."

"Guys," Katniss said sincerely enough to grab their attention, "it should be me. I can make the shot. Whoever else wins can overwhelm him and free the others."

An uncomfortable silence settled around them. Carter knew she was right. She had the range, with that bow. Percy took too much time to summon the water he would need, Max didn't have anything to fight with but her Sketchers, and his Hieroglyphs took too much energy out of him (not to mention the fact that sometimes, very rarely, they fizzle when he casts them). Katniss had to be the one to make it through to the next round.

"So," Carter put his hand out in the middle of the group, "we're in agreement?"

"Yeah," Percy said, putting his hand on top of Carter's. "I'm in."

"Ditto." Max put a fist on top of their hands.

Katniss nodded with a slight smile that unsettled Carter. He was suddenly considering whether or not Katniss was a serial killer.

"Agreed then," Katniss placed her hand on top of Max's. "Tomorrow, this ends."


	8. Chapter 8

Percy was not feeling it.

Sure, he fell asleep almost immediately after the secret meeting, but everything was...off. He didn't dream at all last night, which is rare for demigods. He felt like he was so far away from home that not even the foreboding dreams could reach out and torture him.

He missed Annabeth. He missed home.

He sighed miserably.

All the more reason to keep fighting now, he told himself. Keep fighting for home, the one place that matters.

The four teens found themselves back in the main room, and the Champion greeted them with a sick smile.

"Good Morning, young heroes!" He bellowed. "Are we ready for Round 2?"

"You know it!" Percy said with false enthusiasm. At least, he thought it was false. It came out way more authentic then he thought it would.

"Ready to win," Katniss said menacingly.

Alright, never mind the bow. If the girl was a demigod, Percy was pretty sure she would either be a child of Ares or Hades.

"Very well then," Champ raised his arms out in a _T. "_Let the next match..."

He clapped his hands together, creating a booming noise that somehow made his voice echo even louder.

"_Begin_!"

Percy was immediately zapped onto another arena. This one was slightly lacking in water and was a single tower in the middle of the air. The platform must be about half a mile in diameter. Plenty of fighting space for him.

Standing before him, was Max.

Percy was hoping it would be someone else. At least with Carter, or even Katniss, he could make the fight convincing. But Max... All she had was a pair of Wings. Which is pretty dang cool and all, but Percy knew they'd get in the way of a sword fight.

"Perseus Jackson vs Maximum Ride!" The Champion announced. "Survival! Outlast your opponent!"

Outlast my Opponent? Percy wondered. What's _that_ supposed to mean?

Then he saw them. The Monsters.

They appeared out of nowhere, and started charging towards them behind Max. Ten of the dog headed seal men Telkhines, three of the ten foot tall Cyclopes, and one Furry.

Miss Dodds.

Percy drew his sword and pointed to them.

"Look out!" He exclaimed.

"Behind you!" Max pointed out almost immediately.

Percy turned around in time to be punched in the face by a male super model.

Percy staggered back and fell down, but he was back on his feet again and trying to assess the situation.

It wasn't good. And on top of that, a little voice popped into his head to inform him what the threats were called...

The one Super Model (Eraser) had assaulted him, but the others that stood with him looked way worse.

There were seven scrawny ninjas with blinking lights all over their bodies. (M-Geeks.)

There were four of those wolves with wings that moved around like they were Chuck-E-Cheese animatronics. (Flyboys.)

And finally the three Spec Ops looking soldiers with shifting plates for skin, and holding futuristic guns of some sort. (Dumb-Bots.)

"Great," Percy muttered, "I'm getting attacked by every Star Trek villain ever."

The Dumb Bots lowered their weapons on him and opened fire. Lasers whizzed past Percy's head and he rolled to the side. Sidestepping past their fire, he slashed the head off of one Bot and stabbed the other one in the chest. He used his third swing to cut the third one in half.

They didn't explode into dust like other monsters (or into sand like that one weird long necked cat thing did), but they didn't bleed blood or oil either, like Percy thought they would. The wounds just seemed to burst with a thick smoke, like they were made of shadows themselves.

Percy didn't have time to process this, as the Geeks assaulted him with flip kicks and karate chops. Their hands and feet were made of metal, and badly bruised Percy's face, chest, and arms.

Percy then threw a solid punch into one of their jaws. The head split open like an orange, and the body dissolved shortly after. The others paused to see their comrade disappear.

"Delicate designs, eh guys?" He said with a sadistic snicker.

Then he swung his sword in a wide arc, easily going through three more of the Geek ninjas. Two more swipes, and the rest of the Geeks were gone.

He caught a glimpse of Max, and he was suddenly glad he didn't have to fight her.

She punched and kicked the Telkhines into submission. Some had been carrying hammers and pipes as makeshift weapons. Max was swinging around a metal pipe so hard that one of the Cyclopes got his neck snapped sideways. His dissolved into shadows the same way the others were. Max had just finished the last of the Telkhines before she calmly faced the Furry and the Cyclops.

Percy returned to his own fight. This wasn't over yet.

The Flyboys took to the sky (though how they managed, Percy didn't know) and started dive bombing towards him.

Before he could think of a way to react, he caught a paw to his cheek. The Eraser had changed as well, in his place, there was a werewolf. A good, old fashioned werewolf that even howled to the sky.

"This is going to suck." Percy muttered.


	9. Chapter 9

"This is going to suck," Max muttered.

The freaky dog men had been enough for her, but now she had to fight two one-eyed men and a grandma with leather wings, claws, and a bull-whip.

She crouched low, and used her wings to spring herself off the ground and launch herself to the closer of the two Cyclops. She landed on his chest and went to town, smashing the pipe against his skull over and over again. Then she pushed herself off before he could grab her. She then thrusts the pipe into the eye of the second one, causing him to scream.

After Max landed, she performed a round-house kick that would make Chuck Norris proud to the first guy's knee. The man crumpled and face planted right in front of her. She then took out her switch blade, and stuck it Ito the monster's head. As a result, it dissolved into shadow as the second Cyclops tripped and fell over the edge of the arena.

Max glared down/up at the Furry that the new Voice labeled as "Ms. Dodds."

"I'll rip you apart!" It growled.

"Then come at me already!" Max shouted back. She had a plan, and if it worked, it might even be a good one.

The Furry swooped down and lashed out with her whip, which caught Max's arm. She turned her arm to wrap the whip in, and pulled it down.

The Furry was forced downward by surprise, and Max took her chance. Using her wings, she dashed forward and performed what most gamers (and Gazzy) would call a "Shoryuken," right into her maw.

While the Furry slowly recovered and tried to push herself off the floor, Max untied herself from the whip and grabbed the handle. Part two of her plan was about to unfold.

She reached the whip back and lashed it out at the creature, letting it tie around her ankle. Then she flew into the air, dragging the monster by her foot.

She wailed and cursed at Max in some gibberish that she didn't understand. The Furry wasn't able to fly or escape because Max was flying too fast in the opposite direction. If she tried to spread out those gross, wrinkly wings of hers, they'd be torn right off.

Max circled around the arena and then flew low, low enough so the whip started dragging the ground. Soon she heard the muffled cries of the Furry behind her.

She flew past that Jackson kid, who had seemingly dispatched the Flyboys and was dueling Claws against Swords with the Eraser. Her wings brushed against the backs of his legs by accident.

"Wah!" He jumped.

"Sorry!" Max said immediately. She mentally face-palmed.

_He's supposed to be your enemy, dummy. Don't apologize to him or Buffy will get suspicious. _

The Furry soon grew quiet and Max slowed down to a stop. She let go of the whip and watched as the monster dissipated into a fading black cloud.

"Smoking is bad for you," she announced to no one in particular.

Percy just pried his sword out of the back of the Eraser.

"Yeah," he said, "tell me about it."

"WAVE 2 BEGINS!" The Champion boomed over them.

Then Max looked past Percy to see the source of all the emotional hate and sadness in her existence.

"Ari?" She said in disbelief.

The one place she felt she was the furthest place from home, and she finds yet another copycat of Ari, back to haunt her again.

Beside him, stood Omega (the supposed "Ultimate Human") and Star (Fang's traitorous team mate with super speed).

Percy looked just as dumbstruck as she did.

"Luke?"

She turned around and saw what must be Percy's nemesis. (Nemesai? Nemesie?)

The New Voice popped into her head again.

Luke Castellan, son of Hermes and the reviver turned slayer of Kronos. He held a half steel, half bronze sword and floated there menacingly. Max noted that his shoes had little wings flapping on them to keep him aloft.

To his left was Ethan Nakamura, son of Nemesis, goddess of revenge and rocking the eye-patch look. He had a knife ready in one hand, and a shield in the other.

The third was Kelly. Just Kelly. Some sort of weirdo with fire hair, claws and a pair of legs. No, not like that, like...one was a donkey leg, while the other was made of metal. Seriously, who thought _this_ one up?

Kelly and Ethan lunged at her, slashing his knife and raking her claws through the air. Max dodged the first couple of swings, but cursed when a stray claw caught her thigh.

Kelly took the offensive alone, slashing with speed and ferocity.

"You're going to die here!" Kelly screeched at her. "You and the Son of a Sea Dog!"

"Heard it," Max quipped, trying to sound bored, but failed.

Percy sounded like he wasn't having much luck either.

He swung his sword around him in frustration.

"How. Do. You. Hit. This. Freak?!"

"I don't know!" Max called back. "I've never fought her! ...in person... How do you deal with this thing?"

"I didn't!" He answered, "We gotta get creative!"

"_Get creative?!" _

Max caught Kelly's wrist and put all her strength into kneeing her in the stomach. She then pulled on her arm and flung her over her shoulder and into the air.

She turned to Percy with a steady glare.

"I am not that creative." She stated blandly.

Percy's eye twitched. Then he said, "Hit the deck!"

Max knew just a few things about Poseidon. 1) It was a movie of some sort, 2) he had the grossest relationships in all of mythology [no offense to Percy], and 3) he was a Greek god of the oceans and of earthquakes.

Earthquakes...

Max put as much force into her wings as she could in order to push her off the ground. At the same time, Percy raised his sword in the air, holding it upside down in his hands, and struck the ground as hard as he could.

Max didn't feel the effects it had, but she could _hear_ them.

The ground rolled like thunder, and she could see it shivering like a cold puppy. Kelly was just getting back up, but was too close to the edge. She fell over with a shout. Star tripped and skidded across the ground and over the edge as well. It was actually kind of funny in a morbid way.

Max saw that this was her chance to get rid of Ethan and his shield. She dive bombed him and swung her feet down at the last second, face planting him into the floor.

Max hurriedly picked up the dagger and shield. These were stupid cool, and she was going to need them for the last contender.

Luke floated there, unaffected by the tremor, and then dashed towards him on his winged shoes.

As Max held up her shield to block the first strike, she muttered to herself.

"Who comes up with this stuff?"


	10. Chapter 10

"Who comes up with this stuff?" Percy voiced the complaints in his muscles.

He was getting tired, and he still had one more baddy to go. Star had face planted and skidded over the edge (still funny) and he skewered Omega before he could get another punch in. Percy thought Omega had broken his jaw earlier when he punched him. He was strong, but he was slow.

And now, he got to fight the one guy who avoided his earthquake. Ari, the _winged_ werewolf.

That's right. He's a werewolf.

With wings.

Percy wonder if "_All Dogs go to Heaven_" would apply to dog-men as well.

Percy yelled and charged like a maniac. Ari fluttered away and dodged his swings like a pro. Well, maybe not the same way Max does, Ari was a little clunkier in movement. Maybe he wasn't born with the wings in mind.

Now that's a disturbing sci-fi movie waiting to happen.

Percy soon tired himself out. He let his sword dip and resisted the urge to put his hands on his knees. He was out of breath.

"Is it my turn yet?" Ari snarled.

"Uh...no?" Percy answered hesitantly.

Ari swiped at him anyways. The first in a flurry of scratches and punches that Percy wasn't prepared for. His eye was bruising, his shirt was raked across the front, and his arms were soon covered in cuts and even newer bruises.

Meanwhile, Max defended herself against Luke desperately. The shield helped, but she wasn't trained in how to use it. She sluggishly brought it up to defend herself, and barely makes it each time.

Percy felt more offended about Luke being here than about the beat down he was getting from Ari. Luke, the real Luke, died right in front of him to keep Kronos from destroying Olympus. He used Annabeth's knife to do it.

Annabeth...

Percy hit the ground with a thud. Ari stood over him in his combat boots and army fatigue. He held up one of his claws.

"Giving up?" He taunted. He brought his claws down on top of him.

Percy held up his sword arm and parried the killer blow.

"Not. Yet." He breathed, pushing Ari back and getting back up.

He had to see this through. For Annabeth's sake, he needed to make sure that the Luke he saw here was fake.

Percy needed a pick-me-up, badly.

He charged Ari, but instead of trying to hit him, he struck the ground a few feet away, and the ground split in front him, spewing a geyser up at the wolf kid. Then he jumped into it and rode the new current up towards Ari. Striking above Ari.

The look on his face was priceless.

He sliced off one wing, which exploded in a cloud of shadows, and sent Ari spiraling like a helicopter leaf in the fall. Percy ran over quickly with his new found energy and finished the fight.

Ari turned into a dissipating black mass under him.

"Thank you."

He turned around to see that Max had finished her fight. Luke's foot was twitching and there was a shield imbedded into the ground where his neck should be. Percy was thankful he couldn't see the head from this angle. The body was thankfully turning into shadows as well.

"Dang," he said, "You're brutal."

"Yeah, well," she shrugged, "he called me a lousy flier."

Percy nodded to her. "Thanks," he said, "Some things...just need to stay buried, ya' know?"

Max nodded as she watched the last of Ari fade away.

"Yeah," she agreed, "Ari died a long time ago. It's about time he had his rest."

"_WAVE_ _3_ _BEGINS_!"

Percy then spotted something emerging from the shadows. An old enemy. The Minotaur stomped into existence with its armor and a big axe. The blade of the axe was still shaped like an Omega symbol, and it still had the camp necklaces looped into the blade.

Before Percy could go back to being angry, Max tapped his shoulder.

"Gozen," she pointed.

Percy turned to see Frankenstein's Monster on an unhealthy diet of steroids. He stood eight feet tall, had one arm longer and bigger than the other, and had metal plates bulging from under his skin. Some skin on his arm had torn to expose the metal under it.

"You have got to be kidding me," Percy readied his sword.

"How do you beat this guy?" Max asked him, standing at his back.

"Deep stab in his gut should do the job," Percy answered, "How do you beat _this_ behemoth?"

"Uh..." Max thought for a second, "There was a hurricane involved..."

"You don't say..." Percy wondered smugly.

They charged their opponents with a new resolve and gusto, screaming at the tops of their lungs.


	11. Chapter 11

Katniss was instantly transported to the new arena, and it looked like something that had been pulled out of her world.

The walls reached high into the open sky, which had to be fake, and they ran across the ground, seemingly forever.

Carter was next to her, and before he could voice the confusion he expressed, the Champions voice boomed around them.

"Katniss Everdeen vs Carter Kane!" He stated, "Break the Targets! Score higher than your opponent within the time limit!"

Then a wall erupted between Katniss and Carter, effectively separating them. Two more walls formed a boxed in field around Katniss, while the wall she faced lowered itself.

"_Three_...!"

Katniss began walking ahead to the slowly opening maze entrance.

"_Two_...!"

The wall was almost down; the girl broke into a jog.

"_One_...!"

Katniss leaped over the last bit of the wall.

"_Go_!"

Katniss broke into a full sprint into the maze. She took an arrow from her quiver, ready to fire at the first signs of movement.

The problem was that the walls shifted like the innards of a clock. She almost wasted her arrow twice before she realized it.

She slowed down when she realized she was going to exhaust all her energy trying to run through this. She didn't even know if they had ten minutes or ten hours.

"Take your time," she repeated her father's lesson, "You have all the time in the world."

She was much happier then. With her father to watch over her and teaching her how to hunt. They talked about meaningless things and laughed all day out in the woods.

The whirring of an engine caught Katniss's attention and snapped her back to reality. It reminded her of the hovercraft the Capitol used to use, yet smaller in size. She turned a corner and drew back her bow.

She fired as soon as she saw it. A flying sphere with a eerie light shining under it, while two rotating turrets took up its sides. The front of it was ringed like a target, with the camera lense taking up its center.

The arrow stuck into it's lens and the flying thing slammed into the ground. Katniss walked over to it and examined it. The turrets on its sides were alien to her, but it could prove deadly to her and Carter. It would appear that Champion is playing for keeps now, risking as little chance as possible for an alliance. So far, he's isolated her from Carter and armed the "Targets."

Katniss moved on, running through the maze, sticking to the wall on her left. She soon heard Carter's voice.

"Oh, hey," he said loudly and obviously, "I found a target. Now where did I put that sword of mine...?"

Katniss rolled her eyes. Maybe she would have been better off trusting in Max alone. Her only hope now was that Champion was more gullible than the average fool.

Katniss circled around to her right and found Carter fumbling in his bag in front of a floating Target. Katniss shot the Target, and Carter turned around. He seemed to breathe easier, but he put on a meaner face.

"Hey!" Carter falsely protested, "That one was mine!"

Katniss gritted her teeth. She taunted him, but hopefully he would get her actual message.

"_You are going to have to do better than that_."

Carter looked a little ashamed and Katniss ran off in the opposite direction. She was aware of Carter right behind her. She shot two more, each time Carter would fake curse her for her efforts.

"Oh, darn it!" He said once.

"Now I'm way behind!" He said the second time.

Before Katniss could shoot down any more, a cannon fired off in the distance, causing her to jump a foot into the air and almost caused her to break down crying.

"The tally is up!" Champion announced, "The Girl on Fire wins in a landslide!"

Then he appeared in front of them in a flash of Lightning.

"That little performance was pathetic," he told them, "Do you think me a primal Olympian of unfocused energy and emotion? Or a gossiping wretch from the Capitol?"

He then waved his hand aside and said, "It doesn't matter. I have what I need of you."

He threw his head back and his voice boomed, "_VICTOR! KATNISS EVERDEEN!_"

Lightning engulfed the three of them, and Katniss found herself back in the main room. Percy stood next to her.

"Hey!" he protested, "That's not fair! We helped each other!"

"You threw the girl your sword," the Champion waved aside, "You helped her first, therefore, you outlasted her."

Katniss fixed Percy with a look. Apparently, they had failed in their charade as well. Percy only shrugged.

"Blond girl asks for a sword," he said, "I've gotta give her one."

Katniss sighed. This is a disaster.

"I was going to give the two of you a wondrous celebration before your final fight," The Champion continued, "However…you have no intention of continuing in this tournament, have you?"

"No," Katniss confessed, "I do not. I am taking my children home today."

"Children?" Percy seemed confused, but took a stance next to her anyways.

"Come on, Champion," she taunted him, "You've been too patient with us, weaving lies and stories and putting thoughts into our heads. Let's finish this. Winner take all."

The being stood there, glaring down at them. There was an eager gleam in his eyes, like a child's greed.

"Very well then," Champion then said, "No more performances or interferences, play time is over."

He raised his arms up. "_Fight to the Death! Team Battle! Percy Jackson and Katniss Everdeen vs. The Champion of the Ultimate Arena! The battle begins…"_

_"_**Now.**"


	12. Chapter 12

Percy's day was really going downhill.

Losing two more friends was kind of a bummer, the fact that he had to fight this thing was slightly worse.

Champ here had lunged at the two of them and sprouted Max's Wings on the way down.

He slammed the ground with two feet, and whipped the wings around, smacking Katniss and Percy upside their heads and knocking them apart. Their bodies skidded across the floor in different directions. Champion stood between them.

Percy got back up to his feet, the hit didn't hurt too much, but he wasn't sure how his partner took it. The Champ's wings disappeared, and Percy heard the sound of an arrow being fired, whistling through the air. The Champion, in the span of seconds, blocked the shot with a small stick. Percy caught the air shimmering, and the arrow hit it; causing it to spin away through the air wildly.

"You fight with a toy!" the Champion taunted the archer.

"You fight with jewelry!" Percy snapped at him, and charged. The first swing of his sword was caught in the crook of a different kind of blade. He recognized Carter's weird weapon. The blade of it was even shaped like a question mark, like it was asking Percy who or what made it.

The two fighters held their blades together, trying to force their other to drop their weapon. Percy was not going to win this, not this way. The dude was four feet taller than him, had muscles bigger than his head, and there wasn't a drop of water he could sense here. He had to get clever, get the bad guy talking.

"So..." Percy gritted through his teeth, "You think you're pretty good, huh?"

"_What?_" the Champion roared in glee, "Is this the best you can do?"

He swiped his sword arm sideways, forcing Percy's sneakers to skid across the floor and soon lose his grip of Riptide. He slammed into the floor as his sword went spinning off to nowhere. He struggled to get back up as the Champion continued taunting him.

"I am the Ultimate Champion!" he boomed, "I am not some mortal soldier, or a mindless monster of Tartarus. I am the Devourer of Heroes! And once I am free, I will travel all the way to Terra Primal! The birthplace of Heroes! The one world of the Multiverse fit to be my throne!"

Percy coughed, slowly turning it into a laugh.

"There it is," he wheezed, "Always the center of your own universe. You gods are all alike."

He looked back at Katniss with a grin, which soon disappeared. Katniss had lowered her bow and was staring up at the Champion.

"See?" the mad god gestured, "She knows! It is hopeless to defy me! Surrender, and let me use your powers to break the worlds!"

"Tempting," Percy bit back.

Katniss whispered something behind him. "...at a time."

Percy looked at her.

"He uses them one at a time," she explained, "Why?"

Percy thought about what she meant. Then remembered when he was basking in his powers before. He never used two at once, like in some weird combination. He had to switch them out. Granted, it was almost instantaneous when he did it, but he still needed to do it. And it still felt like...he didn't know how to describe it. He still felt like he was fighting Max, or Carter, or one of the others: like they were still in the room with him.

Maybe they still were, in a way.

Percy quickly readied himself and felt for the pen in his pocket. Riptide had come back. Maybe they could still win this.

"So," Percy thought out loud, "Who do we got in there? Let's see... Max, Carter, Sadie..." He counted on his fingers, "That Alek kid... uh..."

"Ender Wiggin," Katniss said behind her, "and Harry Potter, the boy who lived."

"Never heard of him," Percy waved off, "Should have been the boy with a good press agent. Anyway, that's all of you in there. Three Europeans, a rookie archeologist, and a girl with a bad mouth. Yeah, I can work with that."

Percy took a deep breath.

"Hey Max!" he called to the Champion, "I can't believe you! Letting yourself be manhandled by Bedazzle-boy? Lowest of the low!"

The _khopesh_ sword faded away and wings sprouted from the enemy's back.

Champion charged forward and slammed his fist to where Percy was just standing.

"_What?"_ The Champion looked confused, "_I didn't_..."

"I didn't think Egyptians did anything more than wear skirts and walk funny," Percy continued, "and they were terrible artists!"

An ivory rod formed in the Champion's hand as his wings violently retracted and disappeared. The staff turned to dust as soon as it formed, and the curved sword was back in his other hand.

"_Stop this_!"

"The only thing good to come out of Britania is Vinegar and _Doctor Who_!"

The sword burst into flames as a wand tried to pop out of the Champion's wrist, only to be thwarted by the ivory staff trying to make a violent comeback. The Champion was too focused on keeping his own arms from blasting each other, leaving his chest completely exposed.

"_No,_" he said, "_I am in control! You will obey ME!"_

"Take the shot!" Percy ordered.

Katniss didn't hesitate, pulling a new arrow and firing at the Champion's red ruby. It cracked the jewel and lightning burst throughout the room. Percy had to cover his eyes from the bright flash of light. After a few minutes, it died down, and there were now five people in the room.

Including the Champion.

And two new allies.

Max tried to get back on her two legs, but staggered dizzily. The other guy had black hair and wide glasses, Percy caught sight of a scar on his forehead in the shape of a lightning bolt.

Harry managed to stagger to his own two feet and glared at him.

"What was that about Brits?" he gripped his wand tightly.

Percy got the feeling he could do a lot more damage with that thing than he realized before.

He coughed. "Um. Later," he said, "Let's take down this guy first."

They regained their bearings and faced their weakened enemy. The arrow's head was buried in the crystal, but the shaft stuck straight out, like a signal of defeat.

"_No_..." he said, "_No, no... I am the Champion_! _I do not lose. I_ cannot _lose_!"

A new weapon popped into his hand. A gun, of some kind.

"Sadie!" Max yelled. "I cheated in that foot race!"

The staff exploded from the gun.

"_Expelliarmus!" _Harry cast, causing the staff to fly off to nowhere.

Percy took his chance and uncapped Riptide, surprised at himself that this is the first moment he actually needed it. He ran up to Champ and hit him with the butt of his sword in his nose. The Champ held his nose like a middle-schooler, and screamed, "_OW_!"

Percy then wished he had Kronos' time powers, just so he could replay the moment a few times. Katniss and Max stood side by side, Max reeling her right arm back, and Katniss reeling back her left. When Champion let down his hands, the only thing he saw was two fists punching his eyes at the same time.

Classic.

The Champion was on his back, groaning in pain. Katniss then shoved the arrow further down into the jewel, causing the Champion to howl in pain and a flash of light filled the room. The remaining Heroes had returned, dazed and tired. Plus two smaller children.

"Willow! Rye!" Katniss ran over to the two, checking them over as they rubbed sleep from their eyes.

"Sadie! Carter!" Max squealed uncharacteristically, "You're okay!"

Percy looked at his first opponent.

"Hey, Hans," he said, offering a hand. "How're you feeling?"

"Not sure, actually," Alek answered, taking his hand and standing up, "I'm still alive. I've you to thank for that."

"Well, not by myself," Percy grinned, "I got some of the greatest Heroes ever in my corner."

"Wish I was part of that," he chuckled.

"Well, we might have an opening somewhere," Percy pretended, "You can be the engineer."

Alek shook his head, "Been there, done that, Perseus."

Percy felt his nostrils flare. Alek laughed, and good time was had by all.

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Soon, through a lot of debating, or arguments, the group stood in a circle, ready to go home.

"Okay," Ender said, "I think we've got it now."

The only remnants of the Champion was the ruby he used to capture them all. It was shattered into three large pieces, which Ender held out carefully.

"As far as we can tell," Carter said, "We should be able to just think of home, and the crystal will take us there. It doesn't have a master anymore so-"

"Wait," Max said, "It _should_?"

"Yes," Sadie said confidently, "With the Champion defeated, it doesn't have a reason not to obey us. It'll take us home."

"Or it'll trap us again," Harry suggested.

"Or send us hurtling through space," Percy thought out loud.

"Stop," Katniss said, holding her children close. It was still weird to Percy, thinking of Katniss as a mother. She didn't look anything like a mom, except her eyes. Those eyes belonged to _his_ mother, back in New York. Those were wide, tired, and very, very worried eyes. "We can't start questioning each other now. I trust them to get us home. That's enough for me."

She nodded to Ender, and he smiled back. He turned to Carter, Sadie, and Harry.

"Focus your magic on the crystals," Ender instructed, "They should do the rest."

Percy heard the trio recite their own magic words and, in a flash of light, seven doors appeared against the wall.

"Well, there you have it," Ender beamed, "A new way home."

"Thanks, bud," Percy went over and clapped his shoulder, "You should visit sometime. I mean, not to brag, but I think I can take you in a game of _Battleship_."

Ender laughed, "I'll consider it."

Katniss hugged Max, and Max was a little surprised by the interaction. In a way, the two had become sisters. Percy had a feeling Katniss had a way of doing that. He could do that too, just with less friendship and more nemesis like motives.

Alek walked up to him and shook his hand.

"Take care of Annabeth," he advised, "There's ever only one girl out there for people like us."

"Yeah," Percy agreed, "Will do. You take of Deryn, too."

He laughed, "She's the one who takes care of me!"

They laughed and departed. Percy fist bumped Harry Potter on the way to his portal, and took one last look at the other heroes.

He'd really have to find a way to keep in touch, he decided. These were good people to have your back.


	13. Chapter 13

The Heroes left to their respective worlds, ready to forget their troubles. In truth, they had only begun.

At the center of the room, in a flash of lightning, a man had appeared, gasping for breath. His body was small, and scrawnier than the Champion's. He was normal height and weight. He wore a set of robes tied tightly around his waist, and a cloak over his shoulders.

"I… live?" he questioned, looking himself over.

"No," he answered himself, "I am merely in a different form. I was too brazen in taking my prey. Too eager. It was a fool's errand in the first place, I have only succeeded in uniting them against me."

He looked down to the remnants of the red ruby and he swiped the pieces across the floor with his bare foot.

"There is more than one way to depower a Hero."

He turned and waved his hand towards the Dais. In response, a crystal ball appeared on a stand. He strode over to it and gingerly brushed his fingers over the surface of the globe.

"Terra Primal," he said longingly, "A throne in waiting. The _Real World_. The only world that matters. An idea there, is reality in another. The Birthplace of Heroes. Ah."

He turned from the globe and scanned the ceiling, looking for something that wasn't there.

"You there," he said to the open air, "You see me. You hear me now. I'm coming for you. A number of worlds stand in my way, but I will reach you. And by then, no heroes will save you from my wraith."

He raised his arms up in supposed triumph.

"Give me your _Heroes_!" he yelled, "Present your _Champions_! I will feed on their essence, and you will know me! I am the Outcast, I am

The **_Pariah_**!

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**_Author's Note: _**

**_We can't let a challenge like that go unanswered! Comment on what Hero you want to see take on Pariah's call, and I'll do what I can to prepare them for what's coming. It's all out war_**

**_and your Heroes need _**you**_. _**


	14. Character Origins

_**I just wanted to list the series these characters came from. Of course, the Champion and the Pariah are original, I figured you good readers would like to go and discover these amazing characters yourself.**_

Percy Jackson- "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" and "The Heroes of Olympus" series.

Carter and Sadie Kane- "The Kane Chronicles"

Ender Wiggin- "Ender's Game" book or movie or comic book. (Take your pick.)

Aleksander Ferdinand- "Leviathan" series by Scott Westerfield. (Please read, this book is too good to ignore!)

Maximum Ride- "Maximum Ride" series by James Patterson. (Let's just pretend the ending to that series never happened...)

Katniss Everdeen- "The Hunger Games" series. (My sister is team Gale. -_-)

Harry Potter- "The Harry Potter" series. (I have not read this through and through, so sorry if I don't do the character justice...)


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